Comfortember Day Twenty-Eight: Treehouse [Homeless!Peter AU]

It wasn't that Peter didn't like going into town. He did. What he didn't like were the looks people gave him as he passed them on the street. Some looked at him with pity and others looked at him in disgust, like he shouldn't be walking through the streets.

Maybe he shouldn't be in his current state. He wasn't properly washed and his clothes weren't in the best of shape. His shoes were barely intact and his backpack was also slowly coming apart. He needed to get a new one soon. He needed to get a lot of new things soon, but a lot of those things were hard to get on his own.

Today Peter was only going into town to get some food. He couldn't afford much, he only had ten dollars saved up from his last excursion, so he had to be careful what he decided to buy. He'd have to scour the streets afterwards and see if he could find more loose change around. He didn't like asking people for money if he could avoid it.

Peter walked into his favourite supermarket. It was the smallest one and the prices were good for what little he had. And although Peter wasn't the most welcome by patrons, he went there so often that the employees slowly got to like him.

With Peter's ten dollars, he managed to buy a meat and cheese package and two water bottles. He was supposed to only have three cents left but the cashier slid him a dollar. Peter smiled and pocketed what he purchased before leaving the supermarket.

Usually Peter searched alleyways for loose change before checking sidewalks, especially on busy days. When he checked sidewalks he made sure it was around nighttime so he wouldn't get in anyone's way. It worked out for the most part but people still gave him looks.

The most Peter managed to find that day was two dollars, not counting the dollar that the cashier gave him. It was better than nothing. Small wins.

It was on Peter's way back to the park when someone abruptly grabbed his backpack and lifted him off the ground. Peter flailed his arms and legs, trying to get out of their grip.

"Put me down! Put me down!"

"What's something like you doing wandering around the streets like this?" a gruff voice said. Peter was dropped and his backpack was yanked off. "What did you steal today?"

Peter whipped around and tried reaching up but the other guy just held it higher. He didn't want anything he bought earlier to get ruined by manhandling.

"Stop it, I need that!" Peter protested. "I didn't steal anything!"

"Shut it. Don't make a fuss," snapped the man. His hands reached into Peter's backpack and Peter reacted. He was smaller than this guy but he managed to shove him hard enough to make him stumble back.

"I told you to leave it alone," Peter glowered, reaching for his pack again.

Peter did not expect the man to get angry enough to whip out a pocket knife but he did. Peter stumbled back and raised his hands.

"I-I'm sorry," Peter whimpered. "But that's my stuff…"

Peter yelped and shut his eyes when the man gripped his shirt and yanked him forward. Now that he was closer, he could smell alcohol in his breath. That explained his poor attitude then. Maybe he wouldn't be as horrible sober. Either way, Peter was scared.

"Alright, that's enough."

Peter hesitantly opened his eyes and looked over the man's shoulder. Another man stood behind him dressed in a suit and had glasses on. Weird, considering the sun was down.

"Mind your own business," his captor snapped.

The other man tapped his wrist and it looked like some kind of glove wrapped around his hand. There was a weird whirr noise. "I said, that's enough. Put him down."

There was a moment of silence and then the man finally dropped Peter. He didn't leave without giving him one final shove, causing Peter to collapse on his behind at the sudden action. He remained sitting and watched as the scary man walked away.

His saviour tapped his wrist again and the glove retracted into a watch. He walked forward and took Peter's backpack, holding it out to him. Peter stood and took it gratefully.

"Thank you," he mumbled.

"Be careful around bars, kid. You never know what kind of people you'll come across," his saviour said.

"I learned that tonight." Peter nodded.

"You should probably…" his saviour waved his hand around awkwardly. "Go back to the shelter or...something."

Peter slid his backpack on his shoulder. "I don't live in town. I kinda live in the park."

"Oh," his saviour said, awkwardly. "That's pretty far from here. Do you want me to drive you there?"

Peter frowned. His saviour was nicely dressed and had a fancy watch so he obviously had a lot of money. He didn't want to ruin the car he'd ride in. He had no money to pay for it to be cleaned.

"No, that's okay. I'll walk back."

"I really don't mind. I have nothing else to do." His saviour shrugged.

"But I'm dirty," Peter mumbled.

He sighed. "Kid, it's alright. It isn't like you're dripping with mud. Come on. I want to make sure nothing happens to you."

Peter shifted nervously but nodded. "Thank you, Mister…?"

"Stark. Tony Stark."

The name sounded familiar but Peter couldn't place his finger on it.

XXX

The car ride was a little awkward and silent for the most part. There were some comments thrown in here and there but that was it. Peter couldn't tell if Tony wanted to ask why he lived at the park but the man never said anything.

When they arrived Peter expected that to be that but Tony got out and followed him, apparently worried about possible predators. Little did Tony know that he didn't just live in the park, he made a very special place for himself and he had lived there for so long that he knew how to handle himself in the park. He was safe.

Peter walked into the woods a couple miles and Tony remained silent the whole time, but Peter saw the confused look on his face the more they trekked. Peter stopped under a tree and turned to face Tony with a smile.

"Okay, this is it," he said.

"You said you lived in the park, not the woods," Tony said, confused.

Peter shrugged. "The woods are connected to the park. It's the same thing."

"So you just...Sleep on the ground?" Tony was so awkward it was almost funny.

Peter shook his head. He gestured to the tree they were standing under. There was a rope hanging down. Tony's eyes followed the rope up and then his eyes widened. Peter smirked and crossed his arms.

At a fairly decent height up the tree was a wood treehouse Peter created. A blanket was hanging in front of a square passage Peter made to act as a door. It was only big enough for him so he couldn't invite Tony inside.

"Did you build this?" Tony asked, incredulously.

"It took a lot of time but yeah, I did. All on my own," Peter replied proudly.

"For a fourteen-year-old kid, it's impressive," Tony said, looking back down at Peter. "How did you manage to afford all that wood though? Uh, no offense."

Peter shrugged. "I bartered with someone who owns a local woodshop. He wouldn't pay me money but he said I could take would and supplies to try and make a home. So I did."

Tony nodded silently. Peter shifted awkwardly. Tony probably didn't want to hear the story of a poor orphan on the streets. But he could take care of himself well enough. It took a while to get used to living in the park but it was better than the system.

"I guess I should be on my way," Tony finally said. "It was nice to meet you, Peter."

"You too, Mister Stark," Peter said with a smile. "Have a nice night."

"Yeah, you too."

It was awkward again as Tony turned to leave. It looked like he wanted to say something but he didn't. Peter waited until he was completely gone until he pulled himself up into his home. He plopped his backpack down in the back corner then proceeded to nail his makeshift door to keep the wind out the best he could.

He curled up in a ball and pulled his blanket over his shoulders.

XXX

The next morning after Peter got dressed into a cleaner shirt and jeans he climbed down the rope. On his way down his head almost collided with a fabric bag hanging from strings on a lower tree branch. Peter landed carefully and reached up to take the bag from the branch. A note was attached to it.

"Thought you might need these -TS"

Peter tilted his head. He knew the initials after last night. He reached into the bag and pulled out a brand new pair of sneakers. He smiled brightly and thumbed the shoes as if to make sure they were real. He kicked off his own poor excuse of shoes and slid his feet into these. They fit perfectly and it was so nice.

Peter reached into the bag again and pulled out a grey hoodie. He was starting to feel overwhelmed when he pulled out a pair of jeans and the last thing in the bag was a large package lunch meal.

"Thank you, Mister Stark," Peter whispered to himself. If he knew where Tony was he'd go to his house and thank him.

Because he didn't know, he wrote his own note and pinned it to the tree saying, 'Thank you -PP'

XXX

It went like that for a while. Peter receiving gifts from Tony and Peter giving him thank you notes. But Peter finally decided enough was enough. He wanted to thank Tony in person. Since he seemed to come in the early morning hours, Peter forced himself to stay awake to meet him.

It was almost 5:00AM when Tony came to Peter's home with another bag filled with goodies. Before Tony hung it up, Peter hopped down and scared him to the point where the man stumbled back and almost fell over. It took a lot of effort for Peter not to laugh.

"Kid, what the hell?" Tony gasped, placing a hand over his heart. "I have a heart condition. I can't take scares like that."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know," Peter said, innocently. "I was waiting for you. I really wanted to thank you in person."

"You don't have to." Tony handed Peter the bag. "Candy and another bar of soap."

Peter smiled. "Thanks."

Tony shrugged. "Since you're up, do you want to go get breakfast with me? There's a diner nearby."

"Is that okay?"

"I wouldn't invite you if it wasn't," Tony replied.

Peter looked over himself and frowned. "I'm still not the most welcomed person in town, you know. Even with the new clothes and getting cleaner."

Tony sighed and rubbed his temples. "Screw people. They don't matter."

"Well…"

"Kid, listen. I'd really like to get to know you better, not just drop by to give you gifts but you never seem to be in town anymore. What happened?"

"I've been getting supplies from you, so there really isn't a need. That's the only reason I went into town in the first place. I really don't like how people look at me."

"People look at me weird sometimes too," Tony said, shrugging. "Please, kid. Let me treat you."

Peter fiddled with his fingers. "Alright…"

Things kept happening from that point on. They both decided to have lunch together every day and meet at the park entrance for Tony to pick Peter up. The more they got to talking, the more and more Peter grew to like Tony Stark. He was fascinated by all the things Tony created. Tony even offered to take Peter to his lab and while Peter would've turned down the offer before all this, he didn't this time.

Peter had an emotional breakdown at Tony's place and explained to Tony what happened and how he got homeless. His parents died in a plane crash, his uncle was murdered and his aunt was also murdered in a home invasion. Peter didn't want to go into foster care, so he ran away and built a home for himself in the park.

Tony decided that apparently enough was enough and officially invited Peter to stay with him in his home. He'd work as Tony's intern and have a room of his own and be welcome anywhere in the Tower.

After a couple months, Tony went to child services and officially adopted Peter. Peter had another breakdown but was immediately comforted by Tony. It had been a long, long time since anyone loved him and cared for him the way Tony did.

Peter Parker Stark was grateful for everything Tony had done for him.

Author's Note: Comfortember is almost over, can you believe it? I'm not sure how I feel about that because this has been fun. But it's also been stressful at times...But mostly fun.

Anyway, tomorrow is the last AU of the bunch. It's also kinda...bittersweet.

That's all for now. I'll see ya'll in the next chapter.

Thanks for reading!

~Kurosaki